Tufted fabric



May 17, 1960 c. R. IBAcH, JR 2,936,513

TUFTED FABRIC 2 Sheets-Sheet, l

Filed June 8. 1956 ATTORNEYS R. IBACHl J C.

May

C TED FABRI TUF t 2 shee tS nee 2 s 8 1956 ne dJu Flle wlww BY and EYORN ATT United States Patent O 2,936,513 TUFTED FABRIC Charles R. Ibach,Jr., Charlotte, N.C. Application .lune 8, 1956, Serial No. 590,309 3Claims. (Cl. 28-78) base, the needle of the sewing machine frequentlysevers the yarn in the base, thereby resulting in short loose ends ofyarn and weakening the base to the extent that pile loops or tufts areeasily withdrawn from the base. This defect is overcome to a certainextent by shrinking the fabric after the pile yarn is attached to thebase.

However, a cotton o-r similar woven base fabric has a coarse texture andall base fabrics woven from cotton or any lother material are easilydistorted. That is, suspended chenille bedspreads, draperies or the liketend to sag at portions having relatively large amounts of pile yarnattached thereto as compared to other portions having little or no pileyarn attached thereto.

Because of the smooth lustrous texture of fabrics made from nylon andother synthetic yarns, I have -attempted to produce a chenille fabrichaving a base made from synthetic yarn. Such attempts have beenunsuccessful, heretofore, because the synthetic yarn base was woven. Inorder to secure the pile yarn to the synthetic yarn base, a close weavesuch as a satin weave or twill weave was required, but the sewingmachine needle would then sever or fracture one or more syntheticstrands with each pile-yarn-inserting stroke thereof, and the severedand/ or fractured strand, combined with the displacement of syntheticstrands by the `needle and -pile Vyarn, would cause objectionablepuckering of the synthetic yarn base.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved chenille fabricwherein the fabric has a smooth, unwr-inkled and stable base to whichcut or uncut pile yarns are securely attached to form distinct raisedtuft or loop areas of any desired configuration on either or both sidesof the base.

It is another object to provide a chenille fabric of the characterdescribed in which the base is warp knit as, for example, tricot,Raschel or Simplex knit, as opposed to circular knit fabric, and madefrom synthetic yarn such as nylon, acetate, Daeron or combinationsthereof;

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

improved chenille fabric showing a tufted design thereon made from apile yarn attached to a warp knit base fabric, which design is exemplaryof many different types of tufted pile or loop pile designs which may bemade'in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic yview showing the needle and cutting means of asewing machine and illustrating how they cooperate in inserting pileyarn in the base fabric and cutting the doubled portions of the pileyarn;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary inverted sectional view through the basefabric showing a-few of the tufts projecting therefrom;

, Figure 4 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary View of the back face ofthe tricot base fabric used in forming the fabric portion shown inFigure l, and showing how the yarn is deflected as the pile-formingneedle passes through one of the loops or stitches of the fabric;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing how the yarn is distortedand borrowed from adjacent stitches when the end of the needle engagesand forces a portion of the yarn in the base fabric out of its normalposition without parting the corresponding yarn portion;

-Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional View taken substantially lalongline 6 6 in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary View looking at. the back face of a portion ofthe base fabric shown in Figure l, omitting the pile yarn;

Figure 8 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary View of the front face of aportion of the warp knit base fabric of Figure l omitting the pile yarn.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the portions of warpknitted base fabric `shown in each of the views `are each generallydesignated at 10. Any of many types of warp knitted fabrics may be usedfor the base, such as tricot, Raschel, Simplex or the like and, forpurposes of description, the base fabric will frequently be termedhereinafter as tricot fabric.` The tricot knitted fabric `is illustratedin Figures 4, 5, 7 and 8 as a so-called two-bar tricot fabric of Wellknown construction. The two-bar tricot `fabric is merely exemplary inthat it is representative of many different types of tricot or otherwarp knit fabrics which may be used as the base for the improvedchenille fabric. IIn other words, a single bar or three-bar warp knitfabric or a two-bar pique ribbed pattern or irregular warp entry patternand various mesh Warp knit fabrics may be substituted for the particulartwo-.bar tricot fabric illustrated in Figures 4, 5, 7 and 8.

All of such warp knit fabric `constructions are generally well known,and many of them are clearly disclosed in a reference manual entitledTricot Fabric Design by Thomas Johnson, published by McGraw- HillCompany, Inc. of New York. Accordingly, a detailed description andillustration thereof is `deemed unnecessary. A common characteristic ofall types of tricot knit fabrics is that loops or stitches, such as aregenerally designated at S, are formed as wales and courses on the frontface of the fabric while floats, generally designated at F, are formedon the back face of the fabric, the floats serving to connect thestitches or loops of the stitches and each of said floats extending fromthe base of one stitch in a given course to the base of another stitchin a subsequent course.

In a two-bar tricot fabric, each of the stitches, with the exception ofVthose appearing at the selvages of the fabric, is formed from two yarnsY1 and Y-Z, a plurality Of the yarns Y-1 usually being drawn from aseparate` Warp beam than that from which a plurality of the yarns Y-2are drawn.

Referring now to Figure 2, pile yarn P is inserted in therbase fabric 10Aby means of a substantially vertical reciprocating needle N having aneye 13 through which the pile yarn P passes in its course `from asuitable source, not shown, through thefabric 10 and to a looper 14about which the pile yarn P is looped as it is inserted in a base fabric"10. In order to produce chenille ends or a cut pile, and a consequentsoft texture to pile design areas or rows of pile such as are indicatedat 15 in Figure l, the looper 14 is preferably provided with a movablecutter 16, pivoted at 17 on the looper 14 and which is adapted to havemovement with relation to the lower edge of the upper portion of thelooper 14 and act in the manner of a pair of shears or scissors. Theneedle N, the looper 14 and the cutter 16 are usual parts of acommercial sewing machine, such as is illustrated in U.S. Patent No.1,984,772, issued on December 1S, 1954 to W. C. Stewart and, since Itheconstruction and operation of such machines are well known in the art, afurther description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

The portions of the fabric shown in Figures 2 and 3 are inverted ascompared to the portion of fabric show-n in Figure 1, since the frontface of the fabric usually faces downwardly during the insertion of thepile yarn P therein to form loops or tufts by means of the particularsewing machine illustrated. There are many different ways in which thepile loops or tufts may be formed and they may even project from bothfaces of the lbase fabric 10 according to the manner disclosed in U.S.Patent No. 2,705,465, issued to Edward D. Lacey on April 5, 1955. Also,the pile yarn P may be any desired type of textile material such ascotton, nylon, etc.

The warp knit tricot fabric made from synthetic yarn has an importantcharacteristic which does not exist in a woven fabric, to the extentthat, when the needle N penetrates the Warp knit fabric, although theneedle may be of substantially greater diameter than the correspondingstitch through which it passes, the corresponding stitch is distortedand yarn is borrowed from immediately adjacent stitches and, as theneedle is withdrawn from the fabric, leaving a portion of the pile yarntherein, the yarn previously lborrowed from adjacent stitches springsback to substantially its original position to lock the pile yarn in thebase and so the resultant chenille fabric is entirely devoid ofpuckering. Also, although the needle, in its downward course, may bedirectly in alinement with a portion of the yarn in the tricot knittedfabric 10, the yarn merely moves downward with the needle relative tothe body of the base fabric or the corresponding portion of yarn may bedeflected to one side of the needle due also to the fact that the yarncan be borrowed from adjacent stitches. Thus, not only is the fabricdevoid of distortion or wrinkles adjacent the rows of pile 15, but alsothe yarns in the base fabric are not severed or fractured, as is thecase when a woven base fabric is used.

Another important characteristic of a tricot warp knitted base fabric ascompared to that of a Woven fabric resides in its inherent stability;that is, it will not become bowed or skewed or otherwise distorted whenportions thereof are subjected to greater stresses than other portionsthereof, or, in other words, adjacent wales and courses will not yieldrelative to each other under their `own weight or the weight of the pileyarn, either individually or in groups, although individual stitcheswill yield to a certain extent when the pile yarn is inserted in thewarp knitted base fabric.

As heretofore stated, Figure 4 illustrates how the needle N passesthrough in the base fabric 10 and only causes a slight distortion of theloops or stitches adjacent and between which it passes and, because ofthe particular characteristics of tricot warp knit fabrics, the loopstend 'to return to their normal configuration when the needle iswithdrawn and, thus, the yarn trightly wraps itself around the pile yarnP so it is tightly enmeshed in the ground fabric 10.

In Figures 5 and 6, it will be noted that the sharp lower end of theneedle is directly in alinement with a portion of the yarn and hasengaged and forced one of the oated portions of the yarn downwardly, as'the needle passed through the =body of the base fabric 10, so thecorresponding float is placed under tension and has caused adjacentstitches to converge somewhat toward -the needle N. Of course, nearlyall yarns have a certain amount of inherent resiliency and this,combined with the flexibility of stitches as compared to the weft andwarp of woven fabrics, permits the corresponding portion of yarn engagedby the sharp end of the needle to bedeflected substantially out of itspath and, as the needle returns to raised position, all the stitches,and the corresponding portion of yarn which was deflected, spring backto substantially their original positions, thereby avoiding theoccurrence of distorted or puckered portions y '4 in the base fabricadjacent the lines of pile or pile areas 15, even though the yarns maybe deflected out of their normal positions at times during the insertionof the pile yarn P.

It is thus seen that Ihave provided a novel method of producing chenillefabrics wherein a warp knit base fabric is utilized and pile yarn isinserted in the warp knit base fabric to form chenille designs resultingin a smooth uninterrupted base fabric with sharply defined loop pile or`cut pile areas.

Although the tricot knit fabric has been described herein as being madefrom a synthetic yarn, whichY is highly desirable, it is contemplatedthat yarns made from other materials may also be used although acontinuous filament yarn ordinarily has a greater tensile strength thanthat of a staple yarn and also has a greater inherent stability ortendency to return to its original position when it has been distorteddue to the needle end engaging the yarn as heretofore described withrespect to Figures 5 and 6.

In the drawings and specification there has been, set forth a preferredembodiment Vof the invention and', al6 though specific terms areemployed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and notfor purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined inthe claims.

I claim:

1. A pile fabric comprising a tricot knitted base having parallelcourses of stitches with oats connecting the stitches together andextending from the base of one stitch in a given course to the base ofanother stitch in another Wale and a subsequent course, and a pluralityof doubled portions of pile yarn extending through said vbase from oneside to the other in a predetermined patchored in the tricot knittedbase.-

References Cited in the rile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,791,741 Moore Feb. l0, 1931 1,802,337 Decker et al. Apr. 28, 19311,816,574 Foster et al. July 28, 1931 1,924,649 Morton Aug. 29, 19332,028,872 Kellogg Jan. 28, 1936 2,155,385 Amidon Apr. 25, 1939 2,229,469Newman Jan. 21, 1941 .2,238,098 Bradshaw Apr. 15, 1941 2,331,289 AmidonOct. 12, 1943 2,331,290 Amidon Oct. 12, 1943 A 2,338,945 Just et al.Jan. 11,1944 2,423,605 McCutchen July 8, 1947 2,476,153 Little et al.July 12, 1949 2,482,682 Moore Sept. 20, 1949 2,482,683 Moore Sept. 20,1949 2,508,852 Blumeld May 23, 1950 2,531,718 Rice Nov. 28, 19502,607,042 Schloss Aug. 19, 1952 2,636,460 Seiderman Apr. 28, 19532,662,227 Lacey Dec. l5, 1,953 2,696,009 Wear Dec. 7,1954 2,696,181Lacey Dee. 7, 1954 2,705,880 Kingznger et al Apr. 12, 1955 2,718,132Herrnstadt Sept. 20, 1955 2,725,835 Mather Dec. 6, 1955 2,737,702Schmidt et al. Mar. 13, 1956 2,741,196 Wear Apr. 10, 1956 2,796,654Ashcroft June 25, -1957 @t infie-:renti Dec:

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